Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Summer Update

Has it really been a month since I last posted? I can't say it's because I've been off doing exciting things. Summer has been kind of quiet around here, which is fine with me.

We went to Lafayette the weekend of June 26th to help my parents move into their new office. We were glad to help, and enjoyed getting to eat at Johnson's Boucaniere twice, having a delicious snowball at Cajun Sno, and getting pizza and muffalettos from Deano's. Darren and I were able to have a child-free night to go out to eat and then to a daiquiri bar with his sister. (Yes, the bar did have a drive-thru, but we didn't utilize that). I often wonder if we would appreciate our culture and heritage (and the food) as much if we still lived in Louisiana? I love visiting, and our visits never seem long enough, but what would it be like to live there again? The houses are more expensive, jobs are scarcer, and we'd have to send our kids to private school. I guess we do have it good in Texas, but there's just not the history here that we have at home, most people here are not from here, and most of the locally-owned businesses can't afford to compete with the franchises, so there's not as much variety. It'll do for now, but I know we won't stay here forever.

After our weekend in Lafayette, Zachary stayed with my parents while the rest of us came home. I enjoyed a girls' night out with several neighbors and friends. We went to see The Proposal, then walked over to a local pub, where we stayed until 1:30, laughing and talking. That was a lot of fun!

My sister and adorable nephew flew in that Thursday for a week, and we immediately took them to eat barbecue at Rudy's. Zoe and Carter got along surprisingly well, but the two of them together sure could make a mess! Mom, Dad, and Zach came in Friday, and we abandoned our plans to go to the patriotic concert at the Pavilion in favor of hitting the pool. It was just too hot to be outside and not in water, plus the little kids would have probably run all over the place and driven us crazy. For the Fourth, we overslept, but Darren and Zach managed to meet Mom and Dad at the parade at Market Street, where Zach and other Scouts participated in a military tribute. We barbecued some ribs and other delicious things for lunch, then went to the pool again. That night, we watched The Woodlands' fireworks show from the mall parking lot, along with half of Houston, it seemed. Mom and Dad went home on Sunday, and Zach started art camp at the local community college that Monday. Natalie and I enjoyed spending time together, visiting all the local scrapbooking stores, and even doing some scrapbooking. It was nice to have time to hang out together, and I was sorry to see her and Carter go. It was nice to have someone here during the day to keep me entertained, and hang out with the kids.

I completed my Healthcare Provider CPR certification on the 11th, and we had two birthday parties in the next two days. We didn't do much the next week, except for Zach's camp. He had a great time; he took three classes that were all art-related, and two of them were taught by a man who I worked with for five years. Since the art program at his school is seriously lacking, I was so glad that he had the opportunity to be exposed to different media, and was given some instruction in basic drawing skills.

This past weekend, I went shopping at the mall with one of my friends and former co-workers, and we ran into several people we know. We even had lunch with another former co-worker, and it was really nice to get to catch up with them. Since I don't leave the house much these days, I rarely see anyone I know. My friend dropped me off at home, and I had two hours to get dressed and ready to go see New Kids on the Block in concert at the Pavilion. We went to dinner first, and it poured while we were at the restaurant. The Pavilion is an outdoor venue, so we were concerned about getting wet. It stopped raining in plenty of time for the concert, and Darren brought us a tarp and beach towels to sit on. It was a great show, and my fourth time seeing them.

This week is my last week of freedom before my first nursing class starts next Monday. I've registered for classes for the summer and fall, bought textbooks, and registered the kids for the campus YMCA program. I've been trying to read and relax as much as I can before I have to go back to the frantic pace of studying and keeping everything else afloat at the same time. My summer class is three weeks long, and Zachary will spend the first week driving through Tennessee with my parents. We'll go to Lafayette the weekend of the 1st to get him, and celebrate my parents' cat's 20th birthday. The weekend of the 7th, I'm going on a scrapbooking retreat, and I figure I can use the weekend to study and rest if I need to, instead of scrapbooking. I have one week off before the fall semester starts, but during that week, I have orientation on campus for three nights, then Zach's meet the teacher at his school. Zach's birthday is the 23rd, and we are planning to take some kids to the Astros game that day, then school starts for him and me on the 24th, and Zoe goes back to daycare that day. I think my parents are going to be here to help us with getting everyone where they need to be that day, which will be really nice.

I don't expect to have a whole lot of time to post in the near future, but please bear with me. I still have lots of pictures to put on here, and I do tend to post to Twitter several times a day. Also, Facebook is a major addiction of mine these days, since it's so easy to press that little icon on my phone and see what everyone is up to.

See you soon!